Chapter Text
Paige
she’s so fucking perfect.
paige watches azzi smooth down the front of her dress, tilting her head in the mirror. the lilac color makes her look softer somehow. paige hates how she notices things like that.
“paige?”
paige jolts, caught off guard by being called for.
“what? sorry i was zoned out.”
“i’ve been trying to get your attention for a minute, could you come help zip me up?”
“oh, yeah of course.”
paige gets up from the bed, walking over to where azzi stands by the full length mirror in their hotel room. she grabs the zipper on the back of azzi’s lilac minidress and pulls it up the rest of the way.
up close paige catches a whiff of her perfume and it makes her slightly dizzy. how can someone smell so good all the time?
“all set ma.”
“thanks P!”
“are you almost ready to go?”
“just about, i just wanna touch up my hair and makeup. i’ll be so quick i promise.”
“no it’s okay, take your time.”
“you wanna use your ipad don’t you?”
“...yes. how’d you know?”
“because i know you P.”
paige’s stomach flips.
that’s normal right?
best friends know each other. best friends say stuff like that.
so why is it that every time azzi says stuff like that paige replays it in her head for hours on end.
“okay Az, you go finish getting ready and I’ll call us an uber so it’s here once you're done.”
“okay!”
while azzi finishes getting ready paige pulls out her phone and opens up her uber app. she requests one to come to their hotel and sees that it should be there in about 15 minutes.
perfect, she thinks to herself. she dives towards her backpack, careful to not wrinkle her outfit, and pulls out her purple encased ipad and noise cancelling headphones.
she slips on her headphones and unlocks her ipad to go to exactly what she has been thinking about since they won their game earlier today; to watch their upcoming opponents film.
she should probably take a basketball break but paige loves the game and is always ready to prepare for upcoming games. she presses play on her game of choice, southern california vs kansas state. march madness elite eight games are coming up and paige wants to be prepared for their matchup against southern california.
ten minutes into reviewing the film she feels the left side of her headphones slowly get lifted off her ear.
“whatcha watching?”
paige nearly drops her ipad, not expecting azzi to be so close so suddenly.
“jesus Az, when did you get there?”
“i don’t know like a minute ago. i finished getting ready.”
“oh sorry i had my headphones on so i didn’t realize.”
“it’s fine. when are we leaving?”
“uhh the uber should be here in about 5 minutes?”
paige checks her phone right as the uber app lets her know their driver, roberto, is here.
“oh perfect timing he’s here.”
“okay let me just grab my purse real quick and put on my shoes!”
azzi yells behind her back, running away to collect all her stuff before they leave.
“i thought you were finished getting ready?”
“oh shut up i basically was!”
paige laughs to herself while she slips on her shoes and stands by the door waiting for azzi.
“alright i’m ready!”
“finally.”
azzi hits paige’s shoulder playfully causing paige to let out a surprised laugh.
paige opens the door and holds it open for azzi, exiting the room behind her. once they’re out, paige intertwines their arms, like they always do when they’re out and don’t wanna accidentally lose the other girl.
they walk to the elevator and go down to the lobby to meet their uber.
paige opens the car door for azzi - like always - and gets in after her.
“hi!” azzi says to roberto, their uber driver.
he grumbles back a greeting and starts driving away from the hotel.
azzi, unaffected by his rudeness, turns to her phone as texts light up her screen.
“everyone’s texting the group chat asking who’s on their way.”
uconn HUZZkies
ice: guys me and aubrey are here is anyone else here yet
kaitlyn: me and caroline are pulling in right now
caroline: we see you guys!
ice: ok guys hurry were alone
sarah: me and kk are like 5 minutes away
morgan: uhh sooooo
jana: me and morgan haven’t even left yet…
ice: everyone hurry we wanna do karaoke
azzi: me and paige are 10 minutes away we like just left
paige: i wanna do karaoke
kk: no.
paige: wdym no
kk: no one wants to hear that
paige: you act like im a bad singer
ice: because you are
paige: fuck all of you
morgan: i didnt even do anything
sarah: same
paige: fine fuck you ice and kk
kk: [image]
ice: doing attendance and only 6/10 here
kk: basically hurry up yall
azzi: paige and i are pulling in!
kk: YAYYYYYY
kk: that was because azzis here btw
kk: in case i wasnt clear
kk: im not excited for my eardrums to bleed
kk: im talking about paige
kk: in case that also wasnt clear
ice: kk we get it
kk: just gotta make sure
paige glances up from her phone at the same time azzi does.
“they’re all bums,” paige grumbles.
azzi laughs, “you can’t seriously be mad they said your singing was bad.”
“yes i can because my singing is amazing.”
azzi laughs again, “they’re just kidding.”
paige grumbles some more under her breath as they pull into the parking lot.
“thanks for the ride!”, azzi calls out to their driver as they exit the car.
“IT’S AZZI FUDD!!” kk runs up and jumps into azzi's arms.
“hi kk!”
“it’s been soo long since i’ve seen you.”
azzi laughs, “kk it’s been like a few hours.”
“so basically forever.”
kk glances up and notices paige standing there as well.
“oh hey paige.”
“hi kk.”
“aw still mad about the singing comment?”
“i don’t have any reason to be mad because you’re lying.”
kk laughs, “whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“oooookayyyy anyways who’s ready to go celebrate our winnn?”, kaitlyn asks.
“oh oh oh me!” kk shouts enthusiastically.
“guys should we wait for jana and morgan?” caroline asks.
“it’s okay we can just text the group chat and let them know that we already went in,” ice says.
“i’ll do it!” kk replies.
azzi looks up at paige with a look in her eyes, and then extends her arm.
paige understands her silent question and intertwines their arms together as they enter the all age karaoke bar the team picked out.
over the noise everyone hears their names being called out and they all turn around.
morgan and jana are huffing as they run out of their uber to catch up with the group, weaving through the crowds to meet up with their friends.
“we’re…here…finally…woo,” jana wheezes out as they join the rest of the group.
“perfect!! i see some booths over there so let’s all sit down and then reserve karaoke spots,” kaitlyn tells the group, always taking charge when the team goes out.
“oh oh me and ice and sarah wanna go first!!” kk all but shouts.
“wait, i don’t wanna go first,” sarah immediately replies.
“toooo bad we’re gonna go first,” kk says, determination obvious in her tone.
“ugh fine.”
kk and ice let out whoops of excitement as they go to sign up.
“kaitlyn and caroline wanna do one together?” azzi asks the pair.
“of course! what song were you thinking?”
as their conversation continues, paige tunes into her own thoughts, deciding on what she wants to sing tonight.
everyone eventually signs up for their time, paige being the last one of the group to go.
kk, sarah, and ice start off strong singing “baby” by justin bieber, complete with a dance kk somehow choreographed in under 15 minutes.
next, morgan, jana, and aubrey go up to sing “snooze” by sza.
after them, azzi, kaitlyn, and caroline all go up to sing “mr. brightside” by the killers.
paige watches azzi the whole time she's up there singing and dancing, to the point she forgets kaitlyn and caroline are even up there with her. she can’t even help it, every time she tries and looks away her eyes instinctively go back.
the song ends, and the bar erupts with cheers for the trio. they all smile and take bows and paige finds herself grinning at azzi. they make eye contact as azzi hands her the mic, and she swears she feels her heart skip a beat.
paige steps up onto the stage, the crowd noise fading as she looks at azzi one last time.
“go paige!!” kk shouts from somewhere in the crowd.
paige lets out a little laugh and suddenly, the song she finally decided would be the best for tonight, “love” by keyshia cole starts playing.
this is her go to song, but there’s something that draws her to it, which is why she leans towards it every time she does karaoke.
the opening notes start, and the first lyrics play as paige sings along.
“i used to think that i wasn’t fine enough.”
“and i used to think that i wasn’t wild enough.”
“but i won’t waste my time tryna figure out,”
“why you playin’ games, what’s this all about?”
paige continues, singing to the crowd and feeling the music.
but the moment the chorus comes around for the third and final time, paige’s eyes instinctively meet azzi’s in the crowd.
she was singing to the crowd, but now it feels more like she’s singing to one particular person in the crowd.
“love, never knew what i was missin,’”
“but i knew once we start kissin’, i found,”
their eyes stay locked the whole time while paige wraps up the chorus. almost like they both can’t look away.